Cumulative Consequences of Online Pornography Use on Christian Adolescents

Introduction

Much attention has been given to the correlative effects of adolescent identity formation with adult behavioral outcomes. The development cascades theory is instrumental in providing a framework for causal analysis and in interpreting data to point toward the consequences of negative and positive influences on early development. When ideological conflict is introduced during the important adolescent foundational years, the development cascade theory is useful in defining the adaptive or maladaptive shifts in personal identity. Adolescents who have grown up in Christian religious communities and who remain committed to the ethical and moral beliefs therein are likely to experience identity conflict if simultaneously engaging in online pornography which is decried by the region. Exploring the complex relationship between adolescents who ascribe to Christian morality yet who often seek online pornographic material will not only amplify the prospects of development cascade theory but will also contribute to the scholarship on the effects of porn use in early adolescence from a point of contrast: Christian ethics. As the development cascade theory can also direct well-timed and targeted approaches for counteracting negative trends intervention methods will also be discussed.

Developmental Cascade Theory and Environmental Factors

Few longitudinal studies have been done to address the use and consequences of online pornography use in Christian male adolescent communities. However, many studies display evidence supporting cascade theories directed at assessing environmental and social development factors of adolescent identity formation. Cross-referencing multiple surveys and research studies aids in putting together a cascade model suited to defining positive and negative consequences without sourcing many longitudinal studies. Religious, social, and online communities will be addressed in their capacity to provide evaluations of the adolescent's developing system in conjunction with these other systems. Competence, socialization, and porn use are contributing factors to overall identity formation and dynamically interact particularly with the spirituality of religious youth. The religious aspect of this analysis provides a strong point of reference and difference than general communities provide, for the Christian moral ethic creates a base framework from which deviant behaviors can be more readily seen and assessed. The data collected and analyzed from several studies will demonstrate the interplay of religious belief with regular online pornographic use. The following conclusions will be drawn in following the development cascade theory, highlighting the early risk factors for the onset of pornography use and its cascading consequences. Positive correlations will also be drawn in assessing the protective factors that religious communities provide.

Defining Developmental Cascades

Researchers and practitioners of psychology understand that every individual behavioral development does not occur as the singular result of one single and simple cause. The term, “developmental cascades” represents the awareness that behaviors, or behavioral effects, have multiple and interacting causes. Expressed in these lay terms, one might note that the terminology refers to a system of developmental phenomena that is consistent with a relatively intuitive understanding of modern children's behavior. That is to say, one will generally understand from one’s own life experience that multiple challenges (or comorbid causes) can “snowball” (Masten and Cicchetti, 2010) to create and exacerbate negative consequences or effects. Thus it will likely not come as a surprise to read that, for example, parental relationships, peer relationships, and socio-economic circumstances all play a role in how well a child does in school. The important thing to understand about the systematic study and analysis of developmental cascades, however, is the way in which these cumulative or inter-related behavioral factors are both central and fundamental to processes of human development. As Ann S. Masten and Dante Cicchetti write in their definitive editorial on the subject, “the consequences [of developmental cascades] are not transient: developmental cascades alter the course of development” (2010; emphasis added). Because Masten and Cicchetti’s editorial, published in Developmental Psychopathology, offers what has become the definitive explanation of developmental cascades, it is worth quoting their definition of the term in full:

Developmental cascades refer to the cumulative consequences for development of the many interactions and transactions occurring in developing systems that result in spreading effects across levels, among domains at the same level, and across different systems or generations (Masten and Cicchetti, 2010).

The concepts articulated in this editorial draw substantially from the 2005 study by Masten et al. While the developmental cascades concept was not new, Masten consolidated thinking regarding cumulative consequences in a way that has galvanized the field of developmental psychology. Developmental cascades, as a “systems approach” (Cox et al., 2010), has proven a particularly useful framework of study for psychologists devoted to the understanding of childhood development and, especially, behavioral psychopathology.

Social and Religious Communities in Adolescent Development

Adolescents who define themselves as religious display tendencies for avoiding deviant activities, and are less likely to associate with friends who would meet their parent's disapproval, and even score higher on a range of competence dimensions, as evinced in bolstered self-confidence and successfulness in social circles (Parke, Leidy, Schofield, Miller, & Morris, 2006). Religious activities seem to enhance the achievements which correspond to religious identity and participation in the community. Socialization is an important part of religious identity formation, as it contributes to adaptive abilities to social codes and standard conduct. Levenson, Aldwin, and D'Mello (2005) researched the role of religion as a protector against antisocial and deviant behavior. The lessening effect religion has on risky behaviors precipitates from the larger community to an individual level. Orzorak (2008) noticed that religiously oriented families ensured a higher likelihood of adolescents who participated in religious activity, without correlating specifically to the stability of adolescent belief. Christian identification can range from the devout sense of “I am religious,” to “I merely engage in religious activities,” however, either level of belief corresponds to higher competency levels, which in turn stabilizes identity. Other factors may influence and whittle away at the core stabilization produced by un-conflicted Christian beliefs, especially in social environments that are not cohesive, such as public schools and online communities.

Physical and Online Communities in Adolescent Development

In many contemporary affluent households, children and adolescents grow up surrounded by communities that are both physical and online. Kinney (1993) notes that the identity one forms during adolescence tends to be the one that most people adopt for the rest of their lives. “Teenagers are about to crystallize an identity, and for this, they need others in their peer group to act as models, mirrors, helpers, testers, foils.” Interactions necessarily shape identity. By contemporary statistical analyses, though the majority still holds for physical interaction, much of the environments adolescents spend time in are internet chat rooms, on social media pages and the web at large. In 2009, Chou and his colleagues reported that approximately 69 percent of United States adults had access to the internet with 23 percent making use of a social networking site, and participation in social networking sites more than quadrupled with up to 90 percent of youth having access to these sites. It is clear that internet use has become commonplace among preteen and teenage populations in the United States with young people having a high level of access.

With the ubiquitous presence of the internet and few guidelines and regulations on what is posted on the internet, pornography is easily accessed by internet users. There are very few regulations of the internet pornography industry, and many people have difficulty self-regulating their internet use. Brown and L’Engle (2009) established that a large majority of college students were exposed to internet pornography before attending college. The largest group of world internet users are young, affluent, and highly-educated men (Hargittai, 2004), corresponding to the population that also views the most pornographic material. According to Bran-Couville and Rojas (2009), a high majority of college-age males use sexually explicit websites to enhance arousal and aid in masturbation. This is innocuous in and of itself, yet as Davis (2001) has shown, pathological internet use including online sex and pornography viewing are frequent compulsive internet behaviors.

Developmental Models

As several studies published in 2010 in the journal Developmental Psychopathology cogently illustrate, one of the principal values of developmental cascades theory has been its predictive ability to posit paths of intervention, that is, to help map effective strategies toward mitigation against negative developmental patterns. Developmental models of competence help address three stages of action which influence identity development and contribute to issues therein. Success or problems in one area of competence is likely to lead to success or problems in another, as suggested by Kohlberg, LaCrosse, & Ricks' (1972) seminal review of longitudinal data on adjustment, where they discovered the predictive validity of positive cognitive competence and positive socialized conduct against antisocial and deviant behaviors. As noted earlier, adolescents who were (positively) religiously involved performed better in social contexts than their non-religious peers. The possibility that adaptive and maladaptive functions and behaviors are regulated by religious belief has important implications for the prevention of risky behaviors as predicted by difficulties in other areas, such as the social or school setting.

Frequent online pornography use can be one of the defining predictors for risky or deviant behaviors. Due to the pervasiveness of internet pornography, clarified by Cooper, Delmonico, & Burg (2000) as the Triple-A Engine of affordability, anonymity, and accessibility, religious youth are increasingly coming in contact with explicit sexual material on the web. Behavioral problems are sometimes an issue for the Christian males who participate in online pornography viewing and can lead to issues in the religious setting as well as other social environments. Clinicians report an influx of issues that stem from or manifest themselves in “online sexual compulsivity” (Abell, Steenbergh, & Biovin, 2006). The competence cascade theory suggests that the issues at the level of online pornography use will likely flow into areas of identity development and important social behaviors that can manifest in adolescence or adulthood. For Christian males in particular, conflict with religious identity can produce sensitivity to maladaptive adjustments in addressing problems with compulsive internet porn use.

Identity Versus Role Confusion in Developing Adolescents

Erikson, a German-born American psychologist, is most well-known for postulating that success at each stage of development is determined not by the passage of time but by the confrontation of a series of conflicts and crises and overcoming them with a new sense of maturity. For Erikson, the developmental stage which most exemplifies the phases of adolescence is the “Identity versus Role Confusion” stage (Erikson and Coles, 2000). During this stage, adolescents need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. As much of identity formation takes place at the communal level, the validity of public and peer opinion is often indexed by personal feelings of success and cohesive identity formation. Failure to conform to public and peer structures can lead to further conflicts, such as rule-breaking or anti-social behavior.

This is further evinced by Masten et al.’s foundational 2005 study using developmental cascade theory to assess adult issues stemming from childhood. While it drew from on a relatively small sample (N= 205) of normative urban youth, it was highly focused on social adaptation and cognitive adaptation – the latter measured by evaluating academic achievement – in relation to externalizing and internalizing symptoms and behaviors. The study was the first to track unidirectional and bi-directional influences over a long period – twenty years – thus assessing developmental cascades from childhood through to young adulthood. The most significant of their results documented that “[e]xternalizing problems evident in childhood appeared to undermine academic competence by adolescence, which subsequently showed a negative effect on internalizing problems in young adulthood.” The authors’ analysis of their findings called for a direction for future study that many of their colleagues then took up; they suggested a focus on studies of key turning points in academic achievement, key moments for gaining competence in primary developmental tasks: “Developmental cascades and developmental tasks are integrally related, and the significance of behaviors traditionally described as symptoms of psychopathology will be understood best in the context of the waxing and waning [age-]salience of developmental tasks” (Masten et al., 2005). Further challenges posed by this direction of study include the need to gain an understanding of the relationship between age-salient developmental tasks regarding children in at-risk versus normative circumstances.

Another seminal study by Eccles et al. (1993) found that negative changes during this stage of development occur due to a discrepancy between the physical, emotional and psychological needs of youths and the opportunities available within their environment. Due to the unstable nature of adolescent identity, teenagers are highly susceptible to become easily influenced by others. Arnett (2000) cites Erikson’s comment that industrialized societies often create a “prolonged adolescence” wherein there a psychosocial moratorium granted to youths “during which the young through free role experimentation may find a niche in some section of society.” In other words, many young people in their late teens and early twenties are still experiencing the developmental crises of the Identity versus Role Confusion stage. As young people continue to explore friendships, love, work, spirituality, politics and other aspects of public interactions which make up personal identity, they may either develop a secure sense of self or fail to create a solid understanding of who they are, or they may even swing between the two. Those who receive adequate encouragement and reinforcement through social exploration and positive public and peer response will more likely develop a sense of independence and self-control; those who remain uncertain of their beliefs will often feel confused and ambivalent about themselves and their future.

Christian Identity Development

Religion is part of the “collective identity, the part of self-concept that comes from knowledge of and attitudes towards membership in a social group as well as the emotional significance attached to membership” (Roehlkepartain, (2006). Religion is often developed during childhood when family involvement in a religious community or parental belief systems is integrated into a child’s life. Christian communities provide for adolescents the solid framework of an already established moral code from which to build a religious identity within themselves. For the adolescent, negotiating the boundaries of the code is important in discerning personal beliefs and in forming that cohesion within the mores of the greater community. Erikson’s Identity versus Role Confusion stage is particularly relevant in understanding the development of Christian religious identity. Roehlkepartian (2006) states that “during this stage, the individual may develop a stable spiritual identity that can guide subsequent goals, behaviors and personal experience choices.” During this time, adolescents seek meaning and purpose in life and experience a strong desire to make sense of the world around them, striving to discover ideas that enhance their evolving worldviews.

Religious Community and Adolescent Development

Spiritual and religious communities provide safe havens for youths to explore the difficult aspects and issues inherent within the process of identity development. “Children move out of the state of undifferentiated oneness as they begin to categorize their world. They place themselves into gender, race and other social categories” (Roehlkepartain 2006). Many communities often act as peer groups united by common values and moral codes. As previously mentioned, teens often turn to their peers for guidance in identity formation. In seeing their peers engaging in leadership roles or community service activities often offered in religious and spiritual organizations, adolescents “can activate various aspects of their identity such as leader, believer or helper” (King, 2010). In addition to peer role models, adolescents often see adults in their religious communities as spiritual role models.

Identity development is a confounding and troubling period for most adolescents as they begin to face life challenges, make decisions based on their evolving worldviews and explore their own methods of navigating their place within their peer groups and society at large. These challenges drive some youths to develop spiritual connections, and spiritual communities provide a distinct setting for identity exploration. King (2010) quotes Erikson’s statement that “ideology is essential to identity formation.” The primary developmental task for a teenager is to make sense of the world and to find his or her place within that world. The beliefs and values found within a religious or spiritual community “provide an ideological context in which teens can develop a sense of meaning, order and place in the world” (King, 2010). By integrating the moral codes and ethics of these communities, a teenager can develop a corresponding identity anchored within a belief system firmly based on a coherent worldview. Similar to Erikson’s developmental theory, religious identity development requires precarious navigation through a series of crisis confrontations and resolutions.

Online Sexual Identity Development

Because sexual identity is a large part of the Christian concern, adolescents must negotiate their world experiences within the moral code. Within the scope of the defined group, online sexual encounters comprise much of early exposure to sexual issues. Subrahmanyama, Greenfield, and Tynes (2004) conducted a study of adolescents’ internet use and identity development, concluding that adolescents’ online interactions are “both a literal and a metaphoric screen for representing major adolescent developmental issues, such as sexuality and identity.” Sexual identity development is one of the key components of identity formation as sexual desire and urges are newly developing at this time.

Puberty begins between 9 and 14 for boys and between 8 and 14 for girls (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2005). Most adolescents become curious about sex long before they are able to experiment sexually with others. Often, the internet becomes a source of sexual education for curious teenagers, providing a fairly safe place to practice new types of sexual relationships (Subrahmanyama et al.).The impact of the discovery of sexual material on the internet often depends on the individual youth’s existing belief systems and sense of identity.

With a majority of adolescents in the United States have access to the internet at home, they are free to explore their sexual identities, using the internet to ask questions and experiment with various sexual ideas. Depending on the advice, information, and opinions the teenagers receive, they may see pornography as an opportunity to explore different sexual preferences or in expressing the desire to marginalize and subjugate women. The identity development stage of adolescence is a unique and ever-changing time period, and the expression of individual sexuality weighs heavily on the values formed during this developmental time period.

Public Perception of Pornography

The subject of pornography is greatly contested in the public sphere, with secular responses being more in favor of exposing the positive effects of online pornography, while most religious groups favor declaiming it. For adolescents in the Christian community, whose aspects of identity formation has already been discussed, the range of opinions can be difficult to assess on a personal level. Some describe pornography as the ultimate expression of sexual freedom with real benefits including liberation, freedom of expression, and personal power (Williams, 1999) to a deleterious degradation of women and children as objects (Russell, 1993). The Christian religious community's opinion generally coincides with the latter.

In either case, the internet has been demonstrated as an enabling mechanism with a disinhibiting effect, by which people can engage in activities that are not something they would have normally done. (Cooper, 2004). On an individual level, pornography viewing is rarely seen as wholly good or wholly bad. There are negative and positive aspects of viewing that is reflected not only in the material but in the personal engagement with the material. Indirect risk factors leading to the abuse of, and compulsivity in viewing porn material may coincide with whatever public perception model (be it positive or negative) is the norm of a particular community. Thus, Christian adolescents growing up with the values which censure pornographic viewing will certainly have a higher risk factor for maladaptive social behaviors in response to the conflict that arises due to continued pornographic use.

Positive Claims

There are many arguments in favor of pornography use as a tool for exploration and as an expression of free speech and sexual autonomy. Hald and Malamuth (2005) found that both male and female pornography viewers reported more positive than negative effects from pornography use in relation to sex life, sexual attitude, perceptions towards sex, and general quality of life. Additionally, pornography can expand an individual’s understanding and experience of sexuality. McElroy (2004) states that pornography creates a more complete view of the world’s sexual possibilities and allows people to safely experience sexual alternatives and satisfy curiosity.

In a literature review of 20 studies on rape fantasies, Critelli and Bivona (2008) found that up to 57% of women report having rape fantasies on multiple occasions. McElroy (2004) explains that the most important thing to understand in this situation is that a rape fantasy does not represent a desire for the real thing. “Why would a healthy woman daydream about being raped? Perhaps by losing control, she also sheds all sense of responsibility for and guilt over sex. Perhaps it is the exact opposite of the polite, gentle sex she has now. Perhaps she is curious. Perhaps she has some masochistic feelings that are vented through the fantasy” (p. 4). Through the sexual expression allowed in pornographic material, people can explore fantasies which they wouldn't normally carry out, but which can be normal and healthy aspects of one’s sexual identity. Encouraging discussion on the use of pornographic materials would normalize and de-stigmatize its use and also create a venue for the discussion of the more confusing aspects of sexual identity such as so-called “deviant” tendencies.

Another argument on the benefits of pornography comes from the political argument that pornography is a First Amendment right of free speech. “Pro-sex” feminists believe that the pornography industry should have protection as political heresy to protect women from being controlled sexually. Strossen (1995) argues that women’s rights are “more endangered by censoring sexual images than they are by the sexual images themselves,” and that protection is needed, not from the media produced by the porn industry, but from the infringement upon freedom of speech and sexual autonomy. This argument states that women need more protection from the government’s regulations and their degradation of identity and expression than from the pornographic industry itself, which is only degrading towards women’s sexuality.

To those who argue that pornography creates unsafe sexual environments for women, McElroy (2004) argues that viewing pornography may have a cathartic effect on men who have violent urges towards women, thus, restricting the use of pornography removes a protective barrier between the potential sexual abuse of women. By finding release through viewing violent pornography, these men are able to find a safe and healthy outlet for their urges. This is not unlike women who have rape fantasies. Men who have violent fantasies and are able to explore them in healthy ways through viewing pornography can develop an appropriate outlet that does not hurt others.

Proponents of pornography believe that pornography has no positive correlation with rape, sex crimes, or negative views of women. In a literature review of pornography studies, Ybarra and Mitchell (2005) discovered that adolescent sex offenders which found no relationship between prior exposure to pornography and the number of victims. They also cite another substantial interview with youth sex offenders who self-reported that their use of pornography in no way led to their subsequent sex crimes. Additionally, Barak et al. (1999) conducted two separate studies of men viewing internet pornographic materials and found no significant correlation between pornography use and attitudes towards women or the likelihood to sexually abuse or harass women. In a similar study, McKee (2007) reported no relationship between attitudes towards women and the amount of pornography viewed. Those who view pornography as a positive industry with benefits and merits believe that sexual fantasy can absolutely be separated from the sexual act, that all people are entitled to enjoy a full spectrum of sexual expression without giving up personal security.

However, while attempting to discern the positive and negative effects of pornography, and the influence general public opinion has on religious adolescents in the Christian community, the voices of those dissenting the prevalence of pornography must be heard.

Negative Claims

While the “pro-sex” subset of feminism views see pornography as expressive freedom, the more conservative feminist view sees pornography as an expression of male culture through which women are commoditized and exploited. Citing the Playboy Bunny as the ultimate in sexualizing and fetishizing women to a second-class status, Russell (1993) believes that pornography “institutionalizes the sexuality that both embodies and enacts male supremacy where men are masters, women are slaves; men are superior, women are subordinate; men are real, women are objects; men are sex machines, women are sluts.” Even the name “Bunny” implies that women are less than human, that they are animals who crave sex constantly. This argument against woman-as-sex-object holds that pornography creates a social institution of male supremacy similar to the way that segregation institutionalizes white supremacy (Russell, 1993). Similarly, the issue of violence in pornography is explained as having the possibility to incite real-life violent sex acts.

Whether pornography use causes sexual abuse and rape or simply normalizes these behaviors, there is ample research on the correlation between pornographic viewing and sexual violence. A large percentage of pornographic material is violent in nature. In a content analysis of 150 sexual home videos, Russell (1988) found general aggression in 19 percent and sexual aggression (bondage, slapping, hitting, spanking, pulling hair, rape, mutilation, sexual harassment) in 13 percent. In a separate study on pornographic literature and magazines, the same author discovered that 20 percent of sexual episodes were rape and that 97 percent of the rape scenes ended in orgasm for the victim. Additionally, female victims were often displayed as secretly desiring the abusive treatment and deriving pleasure from it. Raquel and Bogel’s (2000) study of data collected from a rape support center found that 28% of rape victims disclosed that their abuser regularly used pornography.

Exposure to Pornography in Childhood

Ybarra and Mitchell (2005) found that children who have been intentionally exposed to pornography are significantly more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior and substance abuse. Greenfield’s (2004) literature review on children and pornography found a strong correlation between sexually related media viewing and sexual attitudes and values, sexual violence, and early onset of sexual activity in children and adolescents. Additionally, online pornography users are more likely to exhibit features associated with clinical depression. There is a concern as to the negative effects on sexual development such as callous attitudes and behaviors in regards to sex as pornography tends to normalize violence in sex.

Pornography can also negatively affect children’s later sexual identity development. Flood (2009) discusses how viewing pornography influences children’s sexual, emotional, and cognitive attitudes about sex, and Levy (2002) discusses a literature review of studies that show how pornography creates gender inequality through perpetuating an attitude of male dominance. Levy also discusses how young women in pornographic media are often depicted as younger than they actually are which can cause confusion in young girls who are in the process of sexual development.

Pornography and Religious Identity Development

Being an adolescent in the twenty-first century typically involves significant exposure to the internet which, unfortunately, comes with a vast amount of readily available pornographic material. This can be highly troublesome for youths who are attempting to develop and solidify a spiritual and/or religious identity which does not subscribe to a positive view of pornography. Scant attention among the academic world has been paid to the effects of pornography on religious identity formation in young people so much of the evidence drawn in through an analysis of the literature in which the development cascade theory may explain predictions about adult difficulties through the identity conflict born from the intersection of religious morality and frequent pornography use.

Identity Conflict with Pornography Use and Religious Identity

It is hypothesized that young adults who have a strong spiritual component to their identity development are more likely to suffer negative psychological effects from the use of pornography than those who do not have a significant spiritual component integrated with their identity development. In religious communities, the tenets of love, tolerance, and kindness are espoused, while pornography often espouses violence, degradation and lack of sexual equality. This juxtaposition of beliefs and values can leave many religious adolescents feeling bewildered when viewing pornographic material. “Negotiating a spiritual identity may mean dealing with conflict between overlapping collective identities” (Roehlkepartain 2006). In these specific cases, the overlapping and conflicting identities are spiritual as formed by the Christian context, and sexual identity as formed through an interaction with online internet pornography.

In many instances, it is possible that engaging in the viewing of pornographic material may prevent some youths with strong spiritual and religious beliefs from engaging in the sexual practices they see in such material. Researchers have found a negative association between religiosity and pornography use, generally because those who are religious in nature tend to avoid pornographic material due to their religious and moral beliefs. Nelson, Padilla-Walker, and Carroll (2010) conducted a study comparing religious young men who view pornography and those who abstain. The factors they studied were family relationships, religious beliefs and practices and personal characteristics including identity development, emotional disposition, self-esteem, and drug use. The participants, religious men aged 18-27 all reported a belief that viewing pornography is unacceptable behavior. However, those who chose to abstain from the use of pornographic material reported higher levels of individual religious practices, higher levels of self-worth, more solidified identities in terms of dating and family and lower levels of depression than those men who chose to use pornography despite believing that it was immoral (Nelson et al., 2010) The young men who chose to oppose their moral codes and religious beliefs faced inner conflicts about their behavior which negatively impacted their sense of self and identity formation.

In another study conducted by Balthazar, Helm, McBride, Hopkins, & Stevens (2010) a survey was given to 751 males and females at a conservative Christian university in order to describe the relationship between religious identity and perceived consequences and benefits of viewing pornography on the internet. The data suggests a strong negative influence on religious identity and social behaviors, while at the same time revealing the protective benefits that can come from religious belief. For example, 43% of men surveyed claimed a worsening relationship with God/Christ due to frequent online porn viewing, and 26% reported increased negative emotions such as guilt, shame, low self-esteem, etc. Some of the benefits included 20% of males who found watching online porn helped them to relax, and 11% said it served as an emotional outlet. Religion here can be seen as a protective factor against compulsive internet pornography use, but also conveys certain risk factors as well. Abell, Stteenberg, & Bovin (2006) suggest that Christians feel internet pornography is more permissible in Christian communities as an alternative to premarital sex.

Conflict from Pornography Use in Homes and Religious Communities

It is further hypothesized that viewing pornographic material greatly affects value formation in adolescents and can cause conflicts between these adolescents and their religious parents. Hoge, Petrillo, and Smith (1982) studied various communities of tenth graders in rural Christian communities, both Catholic and Protestant, and measured sexual values including tolerance of pornography and views on pre-marital sex. Adolescents were reported to be typically more tolerant of sexual freedoms than their parents, perhaps due to generational discrepancies. In addition to having more liberal views on sexuality and pornography, these youths also attended church and religious services less frequently than their parents, (Hoge et al., 1982), possibly due to the adolescent tendency to begin asserting a sense of individuality through rebellion against parental values. While distancing one’s self from one’s parents is a common theme for adolescent identity development, adding pornographic material to the picture can only act to further divide parents from their children. Many parents avoid discussing pornography with their children due to the awkwardness of the subject for them. Additionally, a small minority of parents, 23 percent, in fact, have internet content controls set up on their home computers. Adolescents who view pornography are more likely than those who do not to have lower levels of emotional bonding with their caregivers (Ybarra and Mitchell 2005).

In terms of spiritual development, Hoge et al. (1982) found that the most significant value transmission comes from parents and how they integrate religion into their children’s lives. The combination of spiritual values and pornographic material can create tremendous confusion for adolescents who attempt to integrate both into their identity development. This has the potential to generate great conflict between parents and children as teenagers seek methods of rebellion against their upbringing, including parental religious influences. Hence, the use of pornographic materials by religious youths can create more distance between them and their parents than for non-religious youths.

Studies have also shown that religious young men who are struggling to cease their use of pornographic material are less able to spend time and energy focusing on their spiritual development (Burford, 2005; Carnes, 2003). Due to the dissonance between the practices of pornography and the tenets of spirituality and religion, these young may come to see their behavior as compulsive and undesirable. Because many of the studies corroborate negative effects on adults from an early onset of pornography use in adolescents, the earlier issues of conflict and shame are addressed, the more successful rehabilitation may be.

Social and Behavioral Risk Factors from Early Pornographic Use

Early pornographic use can greatly affect a child's or adolescent's developmental path and interfere with appropriate social interactions and personal relationships. Exposure at a young age can also lead to higher risk factors for abuse, internet addiction, and aggressive sexual behaviors. (Alexy, Burgess, Prentky, 2014). The cascading consequences flow into conduct issues that can directly influence success in school, social settings, and issues with internalization, as many studies in developmental cascades show. The analysis of Christian adolescent identity formation in relation to pornographic use adds another layer to this discussion, providing an extra variable for research: religiosity and conflict. While studies have shown that youth who have been exposed early to pornography are more vulnerable to experience damaging effects from it (Alexy, Burgess, Prentky, 2014), religious youth are both advantaged and disadvantaged in the already mentioned protective, and risk-producing factors from their beliefs and social community. As Ybarra and Mitchell found in their 2005 study of 1501 children aged 10-17, intentional pornography viewing led to reportage of higher previous delinquent behavior and substance abuse. The multiple aspects of risk factors make it increasingly likely that adolescents will have issues at school or in their homes.

Religious involvement has been demonstrated as a protector from many deviant behaviors such as drug use, crime, and other problem areas (Bachman, O'Malley, Schulenberg, Johnston, Bryant, & Merline, 2002). With a cohesive religious family and community, struggles are less likely to arise that would enhance risk factors among adolescents. Antisocial behavior, engaging in other deviant behaviors, low-self esteem, and depression may all increase the risk of seeking out internet pornography to damaging effect. Associating with other deviant adolescents may also increase the risk for this behavior. According to the cascade model, these consequences may lead to similar issues as an adult, such as low-self esteem, feelings of shame, uninhibited sexual conduct, and aggressive sexual behavior.

Stack, Wasserman, and Kern, (2004) found that the most compelling predictors of internet pornography use were among men whose religious beliefs were tenuous, and whose marriage was reported as “unhappy.” As many studies in many areas have shown, i.e., depression studies, violence studies, and pornography addiction studies, exposure to one negative element correlates to an increase in that behavior later on (Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Capaldi, 1992; Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsay, 1989). Behavior problems emerging from familial issues are carried over into the school context by the child, which undermines competence in success at school both academically and socially (Dishion, Spracklen, Andrews, & Patterson, 1996). In the same way, Pornography use as a behavioral problem affects more than just the individual identity and later development into adulthood. Early prevention among children can aid in bolstering the protective factors and lower the risky behaviors associated with a cascading decline. Strengthening religious ties and ensuring a cohesive family and social community is key in developing a successful prevention and treatment model.

Prevention and Treatment

Individuals who believe their pornography use is shameful and who experience guilt over it may ask their church for assistance in ending their debilitating addiction, and in light of the previously expressed review, recommendations can be made at the church level, so that a larger cohesive organization is in place to address the problem at large, rather than on a case by case basis. The increase in pornography-related issues is increasing (Abell, Steenbergh, & Biovin, 2006). In Balthazar, Helm, McBride, Hopkins, & Stevens' 2010 study showed, 26% of young men reported feelings of guilt, shame and low-self esteem from their pornography use. Anger, depression, stress, and loneliness are all expressions of debilitating pornography use. A positive approach to community strengthening and identity formation in adolescents can possibly overturn the upward degenerative trend.

Burford (2005) studied the most effective treatment strategies for young Christian men who struggle with pornographic addiction. He discovered three methods of treatment: psychotherapy, 12-step programs, and Christian spirituality. He concludes that the most effective approaches to pornographic addiction integrated all three of these treatments.

However, treatment for any addiction takes significant time and energy. Carnes (2003) identified the factors of effective sexual addiction treatment to include 3-5 years of individual therapy with 1-2 years of high-intensity treatment, regular attendance at a 12-step program for sexual addiction along with work with a 12-step sponsor, family or relationship therapy and spiritual support. As it takes significant work to develop trust in a therapist, a group of treatment peers or a sponsor, the individual must focus exclusively on pornography addiction and its treatment early in the process. During that time, the individual is unable to dedicate as much energy, time or focus on spiritual or religious development including group studies, religious rituals, prayer, meditation or service work. The young religious me who struggle with pornographic addiction may fall behind their peers in terms of religious identity development due solely to the fact that their focus lies primarily on the treatment of their addiction.

Preventative measures may include openly discussing pornography by parents or in church groups, where the peer-public influence can be directed according to the established moral framework. Therefore, the conflict would either be more pronounced if an adolescent still sought out pornography use, and may promote the negative cascade effect, or the discussion could lead to a view that is consistent with the adolescent's actions, thereby promoting a positive cascade. Likewise, the religious community has the infrastructure to provide a reduction of the attendant problems with pornography by openly communicating about its use early on without reprimanding or negatively influencing the discussion.

Working to further other areas of competence and social skills can greatly affect other areas of competence, lessening the likely-hood of antisocial and deviant behavior. Peer groups are an excellent way of doing this, especially in the church setting with a moralistic trajectory that is molded to a cohesive structure. Enhancing these other areas of social interaction approaches the problem somewhat indirectly, to avoid needing one-on-one counseling or targeting a specific issue which may lead to greater expressions of shame and guilt. This positive, holistic approach has been used in other areas, i.e., violence prevention in schools, (Smith and Sandhu, 2004) to great effect.

Strengths and Limitations

In the body of literature on the topic of adolescent spirituality and pornography use, strong correlations between the protective factors of religion on behavioral development promote the conclusion that religion can be a tool for prevention. Statistical analyses allow for a broad range of emotional elements to be expressed and correlated with predictive risk factors. However, this area of discourse could greatly benefit by more focused, longitudinal studies, providing more concrete evidence of the success or failures of predicted outcomes. The developmental cascade model greatly enhances the credibility of the argument by pursuing multiple angles of research in social and religious environments and the function the variables therein plays on the role of identity development.

Conclusion

This review addressed both positive and negative factors in adolescent environmental interaction and individual behaviors that led to a cascade of interrelated elements that dynamically influenced adolescent adjustments to religious identity and pornography use. The results broaden the discourse on pornography use and religious identity by exposing the dual nature of religion's risk-protective role, the importance of a cohesive identity in childhood and adolescence, and offering intervention and prevention methods based on enhancing areas of competence and socialization. Though the available literature supports contradictory viewpoints regarding the general effects of pornography, there is far less contradiction in regards to the effects of pornography on adolescent development in general and on the deleterious effects of pornography on spiritual and religious development in young people. Due to the discrepancy between the Christian moral belief and pornographic viewing materials, the sexual and religious identity capacities in the development of adolescents is immediately placed in conflict. In assessing the material, indicators of adult success or problems can be seen to correlate with the level of religious belief, desire for public acceptance, and pornography use. Further, religious practices are compromised when the prevalence of use is high, and when the individual is in rehabilitation causing more conflict. Intervention methods could greatly reduce the maladaptive responses to pornographic use.

References

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469-480.

Abell, J. W., Steenbergh, T. A., & Boivin, M. J. (2006). Cyberporn in the context of religiosity. Journal of Psychology & Theology, 34(2).

Alexy, E. M., Burgess, A. W., & Prentky, R. A. (2009). Pornography use as a risk marker for an aggressive pattern of behavior among sexually reactive children and adolescents. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 14(6), 442-453.

Balthazar, A., Helm, H., McBride, D., Hopkins, G., & Stevens, J. (2010). Internet pornography use in the context of external and internal religiosity. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38(1), 32-40.

Barak, A., Fisher, W. A., Belfry, S., & Lashambe, D. R. (1999). Sex, guys, and cyberspace. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 11(1), 63-91.

Benson, J. B., & Haith, M. M. (2009). Social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood. Amsterdam: Academic.

Braun-Courville, D. K., & Rojas, M. (2009). Exposure to sexually explicit web sites and adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45(2), 156-162.

Brown, J. D., & L’Engle, K. L. (2009). X-rated: Sexual attitudes and behaviors associated with U.S. early adolescents' exposure to sexually explicit media. Communication Research, 36(1), 129-151.

Burford, J. D. (2005). Assessing recovery tools for use by the church in helping male users of pornography. La Mirada, CA: Biola University.

Carnes, P. (2003). The anatomy of arousal: Three internet portals. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18(3), 309-328.

Capaldi, E. J. (1992). The organization of behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25(3), 575.

Cooper, A. Delmonico, D., & Burg, R. (2000). Cybersex users, abusers, and new compulsives: New treatment and strategies. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 7, 5-29.

Cooper, A., Delmonico, D. L., Griffin-Shelley, E., & Mathy, R. M. (2004). Online sexual activity: An examination of potentially problematic behaviors. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 11(3), 129-143.

Chou, W., Hunt, Y., Beckjord, E., Moser, R., & Hesse, B. (2009). JMIRs—Social media use in the United States: Implications for health communication. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved from http://www.jmir.org/2009/4/e48/

Davis, R. (2001). A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17(2), 187-195.

Critelli, J., & Bivona, J. (2008). Women's erotic rape fantasies: An evaluation of theory and research. Journal of Sex Research, 45(1), 57-70.

Dishion, T. J., Spracklen, K. M., Andrews, D. W., & Patterson, G. R. (1996). Deviancy training in male adolescent friendships. Behavior therapy, 27(3), 373-390.

Eccles, J., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C., Reuman, D., & Flanagan, C., et al. (1993). Development during adolescence. The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90-101.

Groebel, J. (1998). Media access and media use among 12-year-olds in the world. Children and Media Violence. (p. 61-65). Goteborg, Sweden: Goteborg University.

Erikson, E., & Coles, R. (2000). The Erik Erikson reader. New York: W.W. Norton.

Flood, M. (2009). The harms of pornography exposure among children and young people. Child Abuse Review, 18, 384-400.

Greenfield, P. (2004). Inadvertent exposure to pornography on the Internet: Implications of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks for child development and families. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25(6), 741-750.

Hald, G., & Malamuth, N. (2008). Self-perceived effects of pornography consumption. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(4), 614-625.

Hargittai, E. (2004). Internet access and use in context. New Media & Society, 6(1), 137-143.

Hoge, D., Petrillo, G., & Smith, E. (1982). Transmission of religious and social values from parents to teenage children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 44(3), 569-580.

King, P., & Boyatzis, C. (2004). Exploring adolescent spiritual and religious development: Current and future theoretical and empirical perspectives. Applied Developmental Science, 8(1), 2-6.

King, P. (2010). Religion and identity: The role of ideological, social, and spiritual contexts. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 197-204.

Kinney, D. (1993). From nerds to normals: The recovery of identity among adolescents from middle school to high school. Sociology of Education, 66(1), 21-40.

Levy, N. (2002). Virtual child pornography: The eroticization of inequality. Ethics and Information Technology, 4, 319-323.

Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22(03), 491-495.

Masten, Ann S.; Roisman, Glenn I.; Long, Jeffrey D.; Burt, Keith B.; Obradović, Jelena; Riley,

Jennifer R.; Boelcke-Stennes, Kristen; Tellegen, Auke (2005), Developmental cascades:

Linking achievement and externalizing and internalizing symptoms over 20 years. Developmental Psychology, 41(5), 733-746.

McElroy, W. (2004, October 16). A feminist defense of pornography. Free Inquiry Magazine, 17(1-4).

McKee, A. (2007). The relationship between attitudes towards women, consumption of pornography, and other demographic variables in a survey of 1,023 consumers of pornography. International Journal of Sexual Health, 19(1), 31-45.

Nelson, L., Padilla-Walker, L., & Carroll, J. (2010). “I believe it is wrong but I still do it”: A comparison of religious young men who do versus do not use pornography. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2(3), 136-147.

Newburger, E. C. (2001). Home computers and Internet use in the United States, August 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.

Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: Guilford Press.

Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior (Vol. 44, No. 2, p. 329). American Psychological Association.

Raquel, R., & Bogel, K. (2000). Exploring the connection between pornography and sexual violence. Violence and Victims, 15(3), 227-234.

Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2006). The handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.

Russell, D. E. (1993). Making violence sexy: Feminist views on pornography. New York: Teachers College Press.

Schulenberg, J. E., Merline, A. C., Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Laetz, V. B. (2005). Trajectories of marijuana use during the transition to adulthood: The big picture based on national panel data. Journal of Drug Issues, 35(2), 255-280.

Smith, D. C., & Sandhu, D. S. (2004). Toward a positive perspective on violence prevention in schools: Building connections. Journal of Counseling & Development, 82(3), 287-293.

Stack, S., Wasserman, I., & Kern, R. (2004). Adult social bonds and use of internet pornography. Social Science Quarterly, 85(1), 75-88.

Strossen, N. (1995). Defending pornography: free speech, sex, and the fight for women's rights. New York: Scribner.

Subrahmanyam, K., Greenfield, P., & Tynes, B. (2004). Constructing sexuality and identity in an online teen chat room. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25(6), 651-666.

Williams, L. (1999). Hard core: Power, pleasure, and the "frenzy of the visible". San Francisco, CA: University of California Press.

Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Exposure to Internet pornography among children and adolescents: A national survey. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(5), 473-486.